Travel Problems In Pacific Coast Seen As Storm Packs Rain, Snow

Weather experts warned of travel problems in the Pacific Coast as a storm will bring rain and snow in the region.

Delays In Highways, Airports

They said that the storm train is not as intense as some of the episodes over the winter, however, there will be a breakdown of high pressure over the Northwest and a southward shift in the jet stream from the Pacific into North America.

Due to this weather condition, there will be more opportunities for rain and mountain snow as well as locally heavy precipitation that can delay travels on highways and airports.

The National Weather Service said that the upper trough and surface low pressure system from the eastern Pacific are heading towards the West Coast.

This system is forecasted to bring widespread mountain snow and lower-elevation rain into the Pacific Northwest and California on Saturday where a couple inches of rain is possible near the coast, and up to a couple of feet of heavy snow for the Sierra Nevada.

Further, the weather condition will reach into the Great Basin, the Intermountain region and into the northern Rockies Saturday night. From Saturday night into early Sunday, a low pressure system is forecast to develop and intensify over the central High Plains.

This low pressure system will then interact with the cold air mass already in place across the northern tier states to deliver a significant winter storm across the northern Plains by Sunday morning.

Meteorologists said that the heaviest rains would fall near sea level on the coast and into the coastal mountain ranges from southwestern Oregon down through Northern California.

Meanwhile, the areas of Seattle and Portland, Oregon, will experience rounds of drenching rain on Friday and Saturday.

Farther south, rain will fall in the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento, California on Friday afternoon, but it will take until Saturday, particularly Saturday afternoon, before the first raindrops from the storm hit coastal areas of Southern California, including Los Angeles and San Diego.

Heavy Snow

On the other hand, a low pressure system will interact with the cold air mass in place across the northern tier states that will bring a round of heavy snow from northern New York across northern New England on Saturday.

Residents may expect one foot to locally 20 inches of new snow.

To recall, as of March 21, the areas of Philadelphia, New York City, Boston and Portland, Maine, have all received close to or above their historical average rainfall for the entire month. This rainstorm is expected to push these totals even further past typical levels.

It appears that there will be a narrow zone of transition across central New England to coastal Maine where heavy freezing rain and sleet can be expected on Saturday night as the low pressure wave approaches.

The precipitation will then rapidly change over to snow before ending early Sunday morning as the system exits towards the Canadian Maritimes.